


A Stark Comparison

by MelodicRunes



Series: A Stark Contrast [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst and Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Iron Man - Freeform, Irondad, Irondad & Spiderson, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is a Mess, Spider-Man - Freeform, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, adoption au, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2020-07-31 06:39:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20110789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodicRunes/pseuds/MelodicRunes
Summary: A companion piece to “A Stark Contrast”.Someone leaks Peter’s adoption to the press. Naturally, bad things happen.





	1. The News Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!
> 
> Here is a companion piece for A Stark Contrast. You don’t necessarily have to have read those to understand this one, but it will give you the backstory. 
> 
> I hope this turns into my first longer fic. I’ve already got about 7 chapters outlined, but I make no promises! I also hope to update this one regularly, but again make no promises. (Real life, I’m in the middle of moving, etc.)
> 
> Anyways, thanks to jwriter819 for the beta read! Hope you enjoy!

Tony was in a board meeting when it happened. Pepper had dragged demanded him, said it was important he show his face every now and then since his name was still on the side of the building. Whatever. It was Pepper so, of course, he got himself out of the workshop long enough to make an appearance. They were just getting to the good and boring part when something odd happened. 

Friday interrupted. 

“Boss, you’ll want to see this,” she said, much to the chagrin of the board members. 

“See what, dear?” 

The TV turned on without prompting and all heads turned toward the display. BREAKING NEWS flashed across the bottom of the screen in brilliantly red letters. 

“This just in,” the newscaster said excitedly. She nearly bounced out of her seat like a kid at Christmas. “We’ve just been informed that Tony Stark, the Tony Stark, recently adopted an heir, a seventeen year old by the name of Peter Parker.” 

Tony stopped breathing for a moment. 

_What in the-_

_**Who** in the-_

_Peter!_

Whatever the meeting was about was no longer important to him. The only things that mattered were keeping Peter safe and finding out who leaked the adoption. Tony and the board listened as the newscaster continued to spill Peter’s life story. 

“Our source tells us that Peter was once an intern for Stark. When the boy’s aunt, Parker’s only living relative, passed away in a gruesome car accident, Stark took him in and adopted him.The Stark heir attends Midtown Science and Technology, a school in Queens for gifted students.”

The newscaster looked up from her notes and directly at the camera. “Well, obviously young Parker is brilliant. He’d have to be to take over Stark Industries one day,” she said delightedly. “Oh look! We’ve just received Peter’s school photo. Quite the handsome young man!”

Pepper was on the phone immediately and Tony jumped into action. 

“Pep! Lawyers!” 

“Already on it,” she called and pointed to the phone. 

“Fri, where’s Peter,” Tony demanded, fear and frustration pulsing through his veins. 

“According to his StarkWatch, Peter is still at school.” 

“Call Happy immediately. We’re bringing him back to the tower until this mess is sorted out. With any luck, I can get him home before the paparazzi find him.” 

“On it, Boss.” 

Tony dashed out of the room leaving his disgruntled board members in his wake. They’d have to wait. He had to get to Peter. 

They hadn’t counted on this just yet. Tony and Peter had discussed going public with the adoption, but Tony wanted him to have as normal of a life as possible. There was no coming back from going public. Tony didn’t want Peter to be hounded and overwhelmed by the press every time he stepped outside. 

Overwhelmed, Tony thought and made a quick pit stop at his workshop. He grabbed a special pair of headphones he’d worked up for the kid, noise cancelling to block everything out. He stuck an extra pair of sunglasses in his coat pocket as well, just in case. They weren’t special, but they were large and would help hide his face. 

Tony met up with Happy in the garage. “C’mon, Hap! Chop, chop! It’s an emergency!” 

“What’s going on, Boss? Friday didn’t say.” 

“Someone leaked the adoption to the press. Take the Bentley.” 

“_Shit_,” Happy mumbled as he grabbed the keys and unlocked the car. The Bentley had blacked out windows. “Does the kid know?” 

“No idea,” Tony responded and pulled out his phone. “But if he doesn’t, he will soon enough.” 

~~~~~

Peter was at lunch when it happened. He was sitting sandwiched between Ned and MJ minding his own business as they talked through some decathlon questions when the cafeteria erupted in noise. 

Normally the cafeteria is noisy to begin with. It’s not the most sound-proofed room in a school, and when 400-500 teenagers finally get their one shot at free time during the day, it gets loud. But this was a different level of loud. The sudden change in decibels had Peter clamp his hands over his ears, eyes squinting against the pain. 

“What the hell,” asked MJ as she looked up from her book. 

“Dude! Everyone’s staring at us,” exclaimed Ned, his eyebrows creased. 

“Correction. Everyone is staring at Peter. What’d you do this time, Parker,” MJ deadpanned. 

“I don’t know! It wasn’t me! I swear!” Peter was starting to panic a little now. The noise and attention were way too much. Several of the cheerleaders sauntered over to introduce themselves and bat their eyelashes at him. 

“Pete, I don’t care what you did. We just met cheerleaders,” Ned squealed. 

“But I...I didn’t _do_ anything,” Peter protested. 

Flash and his friends walked over to them, sickening smirks on their faces. 

“Now you’ve done it, Penis. There’s no way to dig yourself out of this lie,” Jordan said. 

“What are you talking about,” Peter spat at him in annoyance. 

“We wanna know how you did it. Who did you pay to fake the records for you?” 

“What? Fake records…? I didn’t-“

“Peter,” MJ warned as she stared down at her phone.

“What?! Whatever it was, it wasn’t me!” 

“It is you, though,” she said and showed him her phone. It displayed the latest headlines of several different news outlets. And all of them had his name plastered across the front page. 

_Stark Adopts Heir from Queens!_

_Peter Parker, Newest Stark in Town!_

_Who is Peter Parker? _

Peter’s hands trembled as he scrolled through a few of the sites. 

“Whoa! Peter, you’re the number one trending topic on twitter,” Ned exclaimed as he, too, scrolled through the news and social media sites. 

“Stark’s adopted son? Really, Penis,” Jordan laughed again. “How much money did you make selling it to the press, huh? Maybe I should say I’m Norman Osborne’s long lost brother. We look alike, right?” 

Peter paled and stood abruptly. “I...I gotta go...sorry,” he mumbled and took off down the hall and as far away from the teeming crowd of students as possible. 

_They know_, he thought as he raced down the hallway looking for an empty room. _How do they know??_

He ducked in the first empty room he saw and locked the door behind him. He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed. 

“Pete,” Tony answered after only one ring. 

“Dad,” Peter squeaked. “Dad, th-they...e-everybody knows! It wasn’t me! I swear it wasn’t me! But everybody knows! It’s all over the news and everyone’s staring a-a-and-“

“Peter, deep breaths. Ok? Long breaths. I wanna hear them through the phone.”

Peter paused and slowly started to breathe again. 

“Good. Better?” 

Peter gulped. “Yeah. Yeah, a little.” 

“Good. Better is good. Listen, I know it wasn’t you. I would never think that. OK? Me and Hap, we’re on the way-“ 

“Ten minutes out, Boss,” Happy shouted in the background. 

“Did you hear that, kiddo?” 

“Yeah. T-ten minutes.” 

“Where are you right now?”

“Empty classroom off the cafeteria.” 

“I need you to get the front office and stay there. Happy and I’ll get you out safely, I promise. Can you do that for me, kiddo?” 

Peter nodded against the phone. “Yeah. Front office. Got it.” 

He blinked trying to get the bright spots in his vision to go away on their own. He didn’t know how in the hell he was supposed to get to the front office without being seen.

“Pete? You still with me?” 

“Yeah, still here,” he said shakily. 

“Ok. I’m gonna hang up now. I’ve got to call the school to tell them we’re coming. But Karen’s with you. You’re not alone. We’ll be there -“ 

“Seven minutes now,” Happy updated. 

“-in seven minutes.” 

_Seven minutes. I can do seven minutes. Seven. Minutes. Seven._

The call ended and Peter put his phone back in his pocket. “H-hey, Karen,” he whispered. 

“Yes, Peter,” she whispered back. 

“Can you get live security footage of my school? I need to get to the front office without being seen.” 

“Of course, Peter. Why are we whispering?” 

“It’s a...it’s like a game. Like hide and seek. I need to hide and we have to be quiet before I get caught.” 

“And then you would lose the game?” 

“Yes, exactly. Then I’d lose the game.” 

“Security footage of your school has been sent to your phone.” 

“You’re the best, Karen! Thanks!” 

“You’re the best, too, Peter.” Peter thought she sounded pleased at his compliment. 

He whipped out his phone and scrolled through the video footage. He couldn’t go past the cafeteria or he’d be overrun by cheerleaders and Flash again. And kids were leaving the gym so that left out another hallway, too. He’d have to make a run for it and soon, before the bell rang and everyone moved around the hallways. 

He quietly unlocked the door and peeked outside to make sure the coast was clear. Then he quickly dashed down to the end of the hall and took a left avoiding the cafeteria. He was almost to the end of the hall when he heard some girls squealing behind him. He didn’t stick around to see if they were squealing over him or not. He ran the last few steps of the hallway and took a right. He made it safely inside the front office right as the bell rang for classes to change. He ducked down beneath the office windows and breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Peter!” 

He looked up and saw Mr. Morita waving at him. 

“In here, quick.” 

Peter obeyed and gratefully hid in the principal’s office. It was quiet in this office and Peter finally realized that his ears were ringing. He shook his head to clear it, but that only made his head throb. 

“Mr. Stark called. He’s on the way. We’ve made arrangements for you to leave out the back of the offices.” 

“Thanks,” Peter huffed, eyes still closed. 

“I’m really sorry about all of this, but know that we’re working it out. Our number one priority is to keep you and everyone else safe. You aren’t the first high profile student we’ve had.” 

Peter just nodded at him and wished Happy would drive faster. As if in answer to his prayers, his watch vibrated with a text from his Dad. 

**TS:** We’re here.

Parked out back. 

Follow Morita. 

**PP:** omw 

Mr. Morita shepherded him down office corridor to the end of the building. Tony stood right outside, a pair of headphones in one hand and sunglasses in the other. Peter took both gratefully and got in the car. 

“Sunglasses on first,” Tony commanded as he shut the door behind him. “And stay away from the windows, just in case.” 

Peter put on the dark shades rimmed in Iron Man red and sighed. 

“Talk to me, kiddo. You ok?” Tony slung an arm around Peter and pulled him close. Peter let his head fall on the man’s shoulder and let out a sigh. 

“I didn’t...I don’t...it wasn’t _me_,” Peter shouted. 

“I know it wasn’t, kiddo. Nobody’s mad at you. Ok? Look at me for a minute.” 

Tony removed the sunglasses to look into Peter’s red-rimmed eyes. 

“This isn’t your fault. Got it?” 

Peter nodded. 

“Nuh uh. Say it.” 

“It’s not my fault,” Peter mumbled. 

“It’s not your fault. And don’t you dare start apologizing for it, either, or I might actually ground you for being too nice.” 

Peter gave a watery chuckle as he put the sunglasses back on. “So, what are we gonna do?” 

Tony sighed. “That’s an excellent question, Pete. I’ve already got Friday hunting down whoever leaked the info. Pepper’s been on the phone doing what she does best.” 

“Being scary?” 

“Yes, being scary.” 

“And then what?” 

“We’ll have to make a statement soon. Call a press conference.” 

Peter’s stomach dropped and he paled even further. 

“You don’t have to say a word. You don’t even have to be there if you don’t want to be. But we’ll have to say something sooner or later.” 

Happy pulled into Tony’s private garage and parked the car. 

Peter grabbed his backpack and threw his door open before anyone could get it for him. He took off for the elevator, not bothering to look back when he was called. He clamped the noise cancelling headphones over his ears and sank into the deafening, comforting silence. He barricaded himself in his room, locked the door behind him. 

_How could the adoption going public cause so much...so many...problems?! Wasn’t the adoption supposed to be a good thing? _

Peter huffed as he threw himself on the bed, sunglasses and headphones still on. He buried his face under a pillow for good measure. It wasn’t that he didn’t want people to know Tony was his Dad now. He was quite proud to call Tony Dad. No, what he was worried about was everyone at school (and elsewhere) thinking he was a liar. Well, he didn’t really care if they thought he was the liar. But Peter didn’t want anything to come back on Tony. That would be bad publicity for Tony. He didn’t care what he, Peter, looked like to the world at large as long as Tony didn’t get caught up in his messes. 

He sighed and finally removed the pillow from over his face and tossed it aimlessly across the room. He took off the sunglasses to test his senses and found that everything was duller than it was earlier. 

_Good_, he thought in relief. The headphones came off next and he sat up on his bed, wondering what in the hell he should do with himself while the “grown ups” dealt with everything. His eyes roamed around the room and landed on his Spider-Man mask. 

_Huh. Spider-Man’s pretty popular. He’s been interviewed a few times, been around the press. _

Peter walked over to his desk and picked up the mask. 

_Spider-Man can handle himself. Doesn’t need a “grown up” to take care of him._ (Deep in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn’t entirely true because there had been too many times to count when Spider-Man had needed immediate medical assistance. But he assuaged his conscience by telling himself that all superheroes get hurt and need stitches every now and then.) 

Peter put on the mask in his hands, followed by the suit, and asked Karen to find him something good. Then he jumped out of his 87th story window and webbed himself away from Peter Parker’s troubles. 

~~~~~

Tony was in yet another meeting when Friday interrupted yet again. 

“Boss, Peter has left the building.” 

“He _what?!_” 

Tony’s heart was in his mouth for the second time that day. His watch vibrated to let him know his blood pressure was reaching an unhealthy level. He clenched his left fist, right hand massaging the tension point.

“You go. I’ve got this,” Pepper told him. “If I need anything, I’ll call you.” 

He nodded his thanks as he put on his sunglasses and headed to his private office. “Talk to me, Fri. Is he out as Peter or Spider-Man?” 

“Spider-Man,” the AI confirmed quietly. 

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved. He eventually settled on relieved that Peter Parker wasn’t out where the press could get to him and pulled out his phone. 

“Call Peter,” he commanded. The line rang, and rang, and rang. 

“I’m sorry, Boss. He won’t pick up.” 

“Call again.” 

_Pete, c’mon. You can’t ignore me forever. _

He finally reached Peter’s voicemail. 

“Hi! You’ve reached Peter Parker’s voicemail. Of course, you already know that. Duh. I mean, you were the one that called. Uh. Anyway, I’m not available right now, so just leave a message and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can! Or you can, y’know, text me! Ok, bye!” 

Tony couldn’t help but smile at the kid’s voicemail message. It lessened his worry and frustrations just enough to sound calm when he responded. 

“Hey, Pete. I understand you’re upset and need some time. That’s fine. Just call me back soon, ok? I just...wanna make sure you’re safe...that’s all. Love you, kiddo.” 

Peter got Tony’s message, but didn’t respond. In fact, he wouldn’t come home before dark or before his curfew. Several long hours passed before Peter webbed his weary way home and landed in a heap on the living room balcony.


	2. Everything Will Never Be Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns who leaked Peter's adoption, and they deal with the fallout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! 
> 
> I know this has taken a while to upload and I know the first chapter seemed kinda slow (exposition, what can I say?), but I hope this is worth it!
> 
> I did want to reiterate that I am not giving up on "A Stark Contrast". This is an idea I had for that series but turned out to be too long for a one-shot, so I made it it's own fic. When I'm finished with this, I'll go back to "Contrast". 
> 
> Enjoy!

Peter rolled over in bed as the morning sun filtered gently through his curtains. He yawned, stretched, and slowly blinked his eyes open. He’d gotten home late, completely avoiding everyone in the tower, including Tony. Especially Tony. 

His face flushed pink with embarrassment as he remembered how he’d practically fled from school the day before. 

_ Peter Parker can’t handle the attention _ , he thought.  _ But Spider-Man can.  _

But what could Spider-Man do? It wasn’t Spider-Man’s identity plastered all over every major media outlet on the planet. He could only hope everyone wasn’t laughing at him for hiding behind his Dad like a baby. 

“Good morning, Peter,” Friday greeted. “Boss says there’s breakfast in the fridge and to join him in the workshop when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Fri. Hey, what time is it anyway?” 

“It’s 9:38 AM, Peter.” 

“Huh. Guess I’m not going to school today,” he mumbled, mainly to himself. Although he was certain talking to an AI still counted as talking to himself. 

“Boss informed Midtown that you would be out at least for the rest of the week, if not longer,” Friday responded, sounding chipper. 

_ How did Dad manage to make a computer sound chipper?  _

“Thanks for the head’s up,” he told her. 

“You’re welcome, Peter.” 

Peter padded out to the kitchen to see what his Dad meant by breakfast and was surprised to see homemade chocolate chip pancakes. He smiled to himself as he piled his plate high, grabbed a fork, and headed down to the workshop. He could hear AC/DC blasted at full volume before he left the elevator, plate of pancakes in hand. 

“Friday can you lower the volume, please,” he asked, his ears overwhelmed with stimulation. She immediately lowered the volume to a near whisper and Tony whipped around in his chair. 

“Hey! Friday, what did I tell you about my music? Oh,” he stopped as he saw Peter and his pancakes enter the workshop. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty. Thought you’d never wake up.” 

“Yeah, well. Long night.” 

“Yeah, about that.” 

“Boss, I’ve got a hit,” Friday interrupted. She was getting good at that. 

Tony’s attention turned to the nearest holographic screen. And he gripped the workbench in front of him to keep from toppling over. His jaw clenched tight, and a vein in his temple started to twitch.

“Dad,” Peter exclaimed as he tossed his pancakes on the nearest table and rushed forward. “Dad? What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” Tony ground out a little too harshly. 

Peter stopped mid-stride and stared at the man in shock. He’d never used that tone with him before. 

“Boss, your heart rate is reaching an unhealthy level,” Friday warned. 

Tony rolled his eyes at the ceiling and waved as if to wave her away. “I’m fine,” he said between clenched teeth. He quickly dropped what he was working on and headed for the door. 

“I have some...business...to take care of,” he told Peter, his hand on the door handle. “I’ll be back in a little while. And then you and I are gonna talk about last night.” 

Tony disappeared before Peter could utter a word of protest. Bewildered as to what had his Dad in such a sudden fit of maniacal rage, he turned to look at the holographic screen Tony had last looked at. Peter’s brows furrowed in consternation. The screen showed a map of New York City, and an address blinked in the upper right-hand corner. 

“Stark Mansion,” Peter questioned. “Hey, Friday, what’s this? What’s going on at the Mansion?” 

“Boss tracked the IP address of the source who leaked your adoption to the press. It originated here, at this address.” 

“... _ What _ ?! Does that mean...did  _ Howard _ …” 

“The source originated from a computer at this address,” Friday repeated. 

Peter dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. Howard leaked the adoption. 

_ Of course, he did _ . 

~~~~~

Tony pulled into the gravel drive and slammed his car door shut on his way to the front steps. He didn’t even bother to knock; he shoved the door open instead. 

“Where are you,” Tony shouted, face red with rage. “I know you’re here!” 

“Anthony,” his mother scolded as she came running around the corner. “What is the meaning of this?” 

“Where is he? Where’s the son of a bitch?” 

“You hold your tongue in this house,” Maria admonished firmly, arms crossed over her chest. 

“No, Mom. Not anymore. Where is he?” 

“He who?” 

“Howard,” Tony bellowed. 

Howard descended the stairs slowly, hands in the pockets of his pristinely pressed dress pants. 

“Tony. I’m sure the neighbors can hear you shouting like a sixteen-year-old girl. What’s this about,” the eldest Stark asked coolly. 

“You know _exactly_ what this is about. It was _you!_ _You_ leaked the adoption! With absolutely no regard for Peter or his safety!” 

Howard rolled his eyes as he stopped on the last stair, still towering slightly over Tony. “Why would you think such a thing?”

“I don’t think. I  _ know _ ,” Tony spat between gritted teeth. “I  _ know _ it was you because I found the first newscaster to report it and hacked into their network to find their source. And I tracked it all the way back to here, to this address, to  _ you _ . You’ve never liked Peter, never liked the fact that I  _ adopted _ my son! How dare a non-Stark take over your company!” Tony scoffed, disgusted with the man he called father.

“On the contrary.” Howard finally took the last step down and was on level ground with Tony. “Peter’s young; he’s the face of the future of Stark Industries.” 

“You can stop pretending now. We all know you’ve had it out for him from day one.” 

Howard scoffed. “He needs some toughening up, sure, but I don’t dislike the boy.”

“Anthony, you’re overreacting,” Maria said as she gently laid a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Your father would never do such a thing as leak Peter’s private information to the press.” 

“Thank you, Maria,” Howard said with a dip of his head in her direction. “Besides. I didn’t have to. I didn’t even lift a finger.” 

Tony’s eyes narrowed; Maria gasped. 

“Howard! What did you do,” she squeaked. 

“As you said, dear. Nothing. It’s not  _ my  _ fault a young employee happened to overhear a conversation where Peter was mentioned by name. Have you seen the headlines lately?” He tossed a newspaper at Tony’s feet. “You’ve never looked better. The public has never liked you more than they do right now, not even when you miraculously came back from Afghanistan.” 

Tony tore his eyes away from Howard long enough to glance down at the paper.  _ TONY STARK HAS A HEART _ , read the front page. He felt his stomach roll in revulsion. 

“Howard! How...how  _ could _ you,” Maria stammered. “To our own _grandson_?!” 

“It would come out eventually,” Howard shrugged. “Honestly. I don’t know what everyone’s going on about. Who wouldn’t want to be seventeen and famous?” 

Tony turned abruptly and stalked toward the door. Before he left, he turned to face his dad one last time. “I didn’t want to be seventeen and famous, and neither does Peter.” 

Howard rolled his eyes again in annoyance. “Tony, come on.” 

“Stay away from my kid. I mean it. You step foot outside of this house and I’ll know it. I’ve got you under round the clock surveillance. If you talk to anyone, and I mean  _ anyone _ , about my kid again, I’ll ruin your career.” 

Tony didn’t wait for Howard to respond. He turned on his heel and left the same way he had come: by slamming the door behind him. He got in his car and sped off toward home, completely ignoring the speed limit. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. He kept jumping from  _ how  _ ** _could _ ** _ he  _ to  _ of  _ ** _course_ ** _ he would.  _ He pounded the steering wheel as he yelled at the windshield. 

And then there was Peter. Tony remembered the way the kid had looked at him when he picked Peter up from school the day before. Eyes wide, darting back and forth as if looking for danger, face pale. Which was a completely different Peter than the one who had greeted him that morning in the workshop, full of fake confidence, and a swagger that Pete had unknowingly picked up from Tony’s public persona. He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face as his phone rang. 

“Incoming call from Pepper Potts, Boss,” Friday chirped. 

“Yeah, answer it.” 

“Tony?” 

“Hey, Pep.” She sounded breathless, and if he was being honest, he probably did, too. 

“I’ve arranged for a press conference. I’ve kept them at bay for as long as I can, but we have to make an official statement.” 

Tony sighed again. He needed another cup (or four) of coffee. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Pep. You’re the best, you know that? That’s why I made you CEO.” 

She gave him a tired laugh. “Really? It wasn’t because you’d rather lock yourself in your workshop all day instead of attending all of these meetings yourself?” 

“You know me so well, Ms. Potts,” he smirked as he put the car in park. “Listen, I just pulled into the Tower. Why don’t you meet me in the penthouse and we can sit down with Peter, hash it out.” 

“You’re just getting back? Where have you been,” she demanded incredulously. 

“Tracking down our snitch.” 

“Any leads?” 

“Yeah,” he paused and took a deep breath. “It was Howard.”

“What? How- are you sure? Tony, that-” 

“Yeah, I’ll fill you in shortly. Gotta go, Pep.” He ended the call as he stepped off the elevator and into the penthouse...which seemed empty. “Pete,” Tony called as a slight strand of worry wriggled its way down his spine. He really hoped Peter hadn’t taken the suit out again. The kid needed to stay put for a little while, let things calm down. 

“Peter’s in the workshop, Boss.” 

Tony breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the workshop. Turns out Peter was exactly where he had left him, sitting in the same chair and staring at the same holographic display Tony had seen before dashing out. Peter slumped forward as he stared at the blinking address, shoulders hunched in on themselves. Whatever lecture Tony had queued up about not running off without telling him died on his lips. This was going to be hard for everyone, but hardest of all on Peter. 

_ His life, as he knows it, is over _ , Tony thought with a sigh.  _ Everything is about to change. _

“Hey, kiddo,” he said gently. 

“Was it him,” came the small reply. “Was it r-really...him?” Peter finally glanced up from the screen, and the look on Tony’s face told him everything he needed to know. 

“Yeah, kiddo, it was.” 

Peter covered his face with his hands and groaned. “Why? What did I ever do to him?!” He brought his fist down  _ hard  _ on the nearest worktable, hard enough to leave a dent. “Great. Now I’m breaking things. Great. Just great,” he said as a tear slipped down his cheek.

“Hey. Enough of that,” Tony admonished and grabbed Peter’s hands in his own. 

“Sorry. I-I’m sorry. I’ll fix the table,” Peter said miserably, looking everywhere but up at his Dad. 

Tony forced the kid’s chin up to look into Peter’s sad brown eyes. “Bambino, I’m not worried about the table. The table’s seen worse than your fist.” 

“It must be bad if you’re pulling out ‘bambino,’” Peter said. “How bad? What do we do now?” 

Tony sighed, steeling himself. “You’re not gonna like it.” 

_ Yeah, when has that ever stopped the universe, _ Peter thought. 

“There will be an official press conference. Today.” 

“ _ Today?! _ ”

“Increased security. Less time out in the open.” 

Peter scoffed. “But I’m  _ Spider-Man _ ! Spider-Man doesn’t need a security detail!” 

“Yeah, but Peter  _ does _ .” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “You’re right; I hate it,” he seethed. 

“I know, kiddo. Trust me, I understand how much this sucks. For everyone, but especially you.” 

Peter put his head down on the worktable. “I’ll never be normal again,” he lamented. 

“You’re my son; nothing will ever be normal,” Tony answered with a smirk. It earned him a glare from Peter. “Ok, bad timing on that one. But Pepper’s here to talk through the press conference and that’s perfect timing. Ms. Potts,” he said as he turned to the redhead standing in the doorway. 

“Hey, Peter,” she gave him a small smile. 

“Hey, Pepper,” he greeted quietly. 

“The kid’s not happy about...well, any of it, really,” Tony filled her in. 

“No, I wouldn’t expect you to be, but I want you to know that we’re doing everything we can to safeguard your personal privacy.” She sat down at the worktable and pulled out her StarkPad, highlighting a few documents for Tony to look over. “I’ve called for a press conference this afternoon.” 

Peter opened his mouth to protest, but she continued. “I know it’s not what you want, but we have to make a statement. If we continue to let the pres run wild, it would be worse. They would never leave you alone. These people are brutal.” 

Peter sighed for the millionth time that morning. “What are you gonna say?” 

“For starters, we would say that yes, the adoption is true. I’ll also remind the press that you’re still a minor, that the breach of your personal privacy was unlawful, and that anyone found following you around, at home or especially at school, will be prosecuted.” 

Peter looked stunned. “You can do that?” 

Tony gave him a wicked grin. “Kid, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m kind of a superhero. People don’t want to piss off Iron Man.” 

Peter rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. It definitely didn’t hurt to have Iron Man as his Dad. 

“I hate for you to go through all this trouble because of me,” Peter said as he glanced down at his hands again. 

“Hey. Bambi. What did we say about this yesterday?” 

Peter didn’t answer so Tony tapped him on the top of the head. “Focus up, junior. I remember dropping some wisdom. What was it? Come on; the class is waiting.” 

“It’s not my fault,” Peter mumbled. 

“That’s right; it’s not. So this,” Tony motioned to the three of them and the documents on the StarkPad, “is not a problem. And before you start apologizing for things that aren’t your fault, let me stop you.” 

Peter paused with his mouth agape. 

“If you utter the words ‘I’m sorry’ one more time, I’ll follow through on my threat to ground you for being too nice.” 

Peter gave him a watery laugh. “Thanks, Dad.” 

“Huh. I should fake threaten to ground you more often. That’s it; I’ve found the secret to parenting. Pepper, get me a book deal. I’m gonna make millions.” 

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Are you done? We need to finish going over the details.” 

Tony motioned for her to continue and she sat up a little straighter. 

“After that, I’ll take a few questions, yes?” She turned to Tony for his confirmation. 

He rolled his eyes. “A few, yes. If we don’t, they’ll hound us, the vultures.” 

A shiver ran down Peter’s spine as he remembered fighting the actual Vulture a few years ago. This felt oddly similar, but he couldn’t use his powers to protect himself this time. 

“I agree,” Pepper continued. “So that’s it. Short and to the point. Peter, any more questions?” 

“No. Thanks, Pepper.” He gave her a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“We’ll get through this, ok? You’re a tough kid.” She eyed his Iron Man pajamas and tisked. “Let’s get you changed into something a little more presentable and I’ll introduce the world to Peter Stark.” 

“Wait, what,” Peter asked, suddenly very confused. 

“Really? You can’t possibly think you can go out for a press conference in Iron Man pajamas,” she deadpanned. 

Tony chuckled. “Why not? I think it’s endearing.” 

Peter ignored their banter and hyperfocused on one tiny detail. “No, my name.” 

“Yes. Peter.” Pepper looked at him as if he had grown another limb. 

“Parker. My name’s Peter  _ Parker _ .” 

“What? How did I miss that?” She searched through her notes on her StarkPad. “Well, I just won’t mention the last name and people will assume for now. But that’ll have to be changed, soon.” She turned back toward the door, nose still buried in the StarkPad. “Be dressed and ready in an hour,” she said without looking up.

Peter was floored. She had said it so matter-of-factly like it didn’t affect her at all. And of course, it didn’t affect her, what his last name was. But it affected Peter and Peter wanted to stay Peter Parker. Well, he hadn’t really thought about it much, to be honest. But shouldn’t that decision be left up to him? 

“Pete?” 

He felt a hand land on his shoulder. He looked up at his Dad and silently implored him, begged him to see his side of things. 

“Come on. Let’s get ready. We’ll talk about...the rest of that...later. Let’s just get through today, ok?” 

Peter nodded and followed his Dad out of the workshop. 

~~~~~

“We come to you now from the New York office of Stark Industries, where the famous Tony Stark has prepared a statement concerning the adoption rumors. Let’s listen in and see what he has to say.” 

The man ignored the newscaster’s babble and focused instead on the teenager who walked on stage behind Tony Stark. The kid looked nervous and was clearly uncomfortable in the designer suit he wore, but tried not to show it. He winced a little as the flashes from the cameras blinded him. Tony threw a protective arm around the boy and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. The boy gave him a small smile in return. Tony patted him on the back before he stepped up to the podium to speak. 

“Well, the cat’s out of the bag,” Tony said with a charismatic smile. “Peter is my son, and heir to Stark Industries.” 

The audience erupted in shouts and questions, but Tony ignored them. Instead, he turned to glance at the young man on his right, Peter, and give him a reassuring smile. Peter was doing his best to focus solely on Tony. 

The Mandarin paused the recording and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What do you think? Did you see that coming? ;) 
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr, @melodicrunes.


	3. A Stark by Any Other Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter struggles with being in the spotlight and everything else that comes with being a Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m moving this week and will be crazy busy. So here’s chapter 3 as a present because I procrastinated packing. And because I love you!
> 
> As always, thanks to jwriter819 for the beta read!

Peter stared at the envelope on the table. A lot had happened in the month since the press conference. He and his Dad had argued over the name change, he’d gotten his own security detail, he and his Dad has argued over the name change some more, he’d been continuously hounded by the press anytime he left the Tower, he and his Dad had argued over the name change again, then he couldn’t leave the Tower much because of the paparazzi. Oh, and he and his Dad had still argued over the name change. He knew what was inside the envelope he held in his hands, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. He gritted his teeth and tore it open. 

_Better to get it over with, he thought. Not opening it won’t change anything._

Several documents fell out of the envelope, including a driver’s license, social security card, and passport. His, to be exact. Newly issued and sent up from Legal. Peter picked up the license and looked it over. It looked just like his old one, same picture, same information, same New York watermark. But there was one glaring difference and his eyes found it immediately. 

_Peter Benjamin Stark_

He glowered at the place where Parker should be and remembered all the fights that had led up to this moment, him holding legal documentation that changed him, his name, forever. Peter thought back to the conversation that had finally pushed him over the edge and made him, rather begrudgingly, change his last name. 

_“No,” Peter said defiantly. _

_“Have you given it more thought,” Tony asked. _

_“I just did. My answer is still the same. No.” _

_Tony ran his hand down his face. “It’s just a few pieces of paper, kiddo. You know it doesn’t really matter to me.” _

_He lied and Peter knew it. It mattered a lot. Tony had adopted Peter and was overjoyed at the initial idea of Peter taking his last name. But his Dad also understood that Peter didn’t want to give up his biological family. But now that the adoption was made public (thanks Howard), there were some legal loopholes to navigate. They were being pressured on all sides, but especially from inside the company. The board members weren’t too pleased with the idea of Peter having anything to do with Stark Industries’ assets if he wasn’t a Stark. Pepper had explained that one of the company bi-laws stated that an heir had to be a Stark. _

_And the only failsafe way to ensure Peter was taken care of if anything were to happen to Tony would be to make him the sole heir of...well, everything. Stark Industries, Tony’s assets, money, technology. Anything and everything that had Tony’s name on it would go to Peter. And Peter would be looked after. _

_All Peter had to do was change his last name. _

_“If it’s just a piece of paper, why does it matter so much,” Peter mumbled darkly. _

_Tony took the tools out of Peter’s hands and placed them on the work table between them. “Focus up, please.” _

_Peter pouted and resolutely tried to stare a hole through the table. _

_“Peter.” _

_Peter finally looked up. This was serious business if his Dad had used his actual name for once. _

_“On one hand, it’s just a piece of paper and doesn’t change who you are.” _

_“Then why can’t I-“ _

_“Nuh uh. The adult is still talking.” _

_Peter huffed in annoyance as his Dad kept going. _

_“On the other hand, that piece of paper is the greatest gift I could ever give you. It would ensure that, God forbid, if anything were to happen to me, that you’d be taken care of. Forever. Your kids would be taken care of. Hell, your grandkids and great-grandkids, too.” _

_Peter’s eyes widened at the reminder that he was only in this situation because every parental figure he’d had was dead. He rounded the table and buried his face in Tony’s chest. _

_“Dad,” he choked out, suddenly terrified of a life without Tony. There wasn’t anyone left after Tony. He thought there hadn’t been anyone after May, but this time he would truly be alone. _

_A calloused hand snaked up his back and into his hair. “I’m right here, Bambino,” Tony said quietly. “I love being your Dad, you know that, right?” _

_Peter nodded against the man’s chest. “I love being your son,” he sniffled. _

_“Good. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past two years, it’s that I want to protect you now more than ever. Will you let me do that? Can I be the Dad, here? Please?” _

_Tony had never asked him something like that before and the gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on Peter. Tony had always demanded that Peter be protected, whether it be in new suit upgrades or a StarkWatch panic button. The fact that Tony was asking instead of demanding told Peter that this time was different. This time was bigger. _

_Peter breathed in Tony’s characteristic scent (mostly motor oil since they were in the workshop) and sighed. “Ok.” _

_“Ok? You’ll do it?” Tony pushed him back to hold Peter at arm’s length and looked him in the eye. _

_“Yeah. I’ll do it.” _

That had been last week. They’d signed the paperwork a few days later and that resulted in Peter’s new license. He took out his wallet to exchange it with the old one and stuffed his wallet back in his pocket. Peter Benjamin Stark was yet another thing he was still trying to get used to, on top of everything else that had happened because of the press conference. 

Peter heard a familiar set of footsteps echo down the hall. 

“Morning, Mini Me.” His Dad ruffled his hair and dropped a quick kiss on the top of his head. 

Peter shoved the offending hands away and straightened out his hair again. “You can’t call me that. I’m not ‘mini’. I’m almost as tall as you are.” 

“Until you surpass me in height, you shall remain my Mini Me,” Tony smirked. “And if you think of surpassing me in height, I’ll ground you. So don’t come home with some more weird arachnid powers that make you grow. Oh. It arrived.” He thumbed through the papers on the table and gave a pleased hum. 

“I’ll get these over to Pepper to file and keep in a safe place.” 

“Yeah, sounds great, Dad,” Peter said without meaning it. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and quickly headed for the door. 

“Hey! Where are you off to in such a rush? No time for your old man?” 

“School,” Peter said without looking back. 

But suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and he was spun around to face Tony. “Pete-“ 

“I’ve gotta go. Can’t keep Happy waiting.” Peter tried to tug himself free of Tony’s grasp, but didn’t put any strength behind it. Tony’s hand stayed firmly clasped on his shoulder. 

“In a minute.” Tony’s hand moved from his shoulder to clasp the back of his neck. “You’re still Peter. Ok? No matter what some paper says. And that goes for legal documents and news outlets. Peter Stark is no different than Peter Parker. Got it?” 

“Peter Parker didn’t have to go to school in a bullet-proof car,” Peter ground out as he took a firm step backward and yanked himself free. “I’ll see you after school.” 

Tony tried to protest, but Peter had already put on his noise cancelling headphones. Peter stepped onto the elevator and was gone. 

~~~~~

“What have we here,” Mandarin spoke to no one in particular. He was the only one in the room; he was just especially delighted with the sound of his own voice. He dug through a few more encrypted files and smiled. 

“Ah, it’s official, then. Peter Parker is no more. Good, Stark. Very good. You must really care for this child if you’ve made him your heir. And a smart one he is, too. Look at these academics! Top of his class, on a nationally ranked Academic Decathlon team! You must be a proud, very proud, father.” 

Mandarin chuckled as he continued to pour through Peter’s life. Photos of Peter at school, with his friends, out to dinner with Tony, walking down the streets of New York City. He wanted as much information about Peter as he could get his hands on. He clicked over to the audible tab on his browser as something peaked his interest. 

“For the past few weeks, the nation has been enamored by the Stark Heir, young handsome Peter. But our sources tell us that Peter might be enamored with someone else. Ooh! Sorry ladies! Here he is out to brunch with a beautiful young lady, previously assumed to simply be a classmate, but we have reason to believe the pair are in fact a couple.” The female YouTuber sighed forlornly. 

“The couple have been seen out in public together several times this week, always accompanied by Happy Hogan. Hogan, you will remember, was previously Tony Stark’s bodyguard before the billionaire became Iron Man. Don’t worry, Pete; we’d hate to be chaperoned by our dad’s old friend, too.” 

Mandarin muted the video as the photos of Peter continued to flash across the screen. “Ah. A young lady friend. How nice. How nice, indeed.”

~~~~~ 

“MJ, I’m so sorry,” Peter bemoaned for the third time. He had his head buried in his arms on their shared lunch table. “I thought it was safe to go to that little cafe! I didn’t know we were being followed by the paparazzi!” 

“It’s fine, loser. I’m more worried about you,” she said. “They only want you for your body. You know that right?” 

Peter groaned as Ned threw his head back in laughter. 

“Hey! Pipe down, dickwads,” called Flash from a table behind them. “Oh. My bad, I didn’t see you there Prince Peter. Hey everyone, His Royal Highness has graced us with his presence today! Eating with the peasants, My Lord?” 

“Flash, you’re an idiot,” MJ deadpanned. 

Flash had been particularly let down after the press conference announced that no, Peter hadn’t been lying for two years. Yes, he really did know Tony Stark and was once the man’s intern. One of the local newspapers had taken to calling him the ‘Prince of New York’, and Flash had thrown it back in his face every chance he got. 

“Yeah, whatever, Jones. Watch out for her, Your Highness. She only wants you for your money.” 

Peter jumped to his feet, hands in fists at his sides. He’d had enough. First the name change was official, then the escort into school by Happy (who had to wait for him on school property until he was finished), then he finds out he’s a Twitter trending topic again because some jerk snapped a photo of him and MJ over the weekend. And then there was Flash. 

“Peter! Peter, no, man! C’mon,” Ned urged him. “Don’t do this, man. You don’t wanna do this.” He tugged on Peter’s arm to get him to sit down again, but Peter stared at Flash in a blind rage. 

“Peter, listen,” Ned whispered frantically. “If you beat the crap out of him, and I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it. He definitely does. But if you beat the crap out of him, you’ll be everything you said Howard says you are.” 

_Howard._ The name bounced around his brain like a firework on the 4th of July. Ned was right; this wasn’t Flash’s fault. It was Howard’s. His fists unclenched and he turned back to Ned and MJ. 

“I gotta go,” he said as he scooped up his backpack and headed for the door. If he was quick about it, he could leave before Happy noticed. 

“Peter!” 

“Wait! Where are you going?” 

“Good riddance, Your Highness!” 

He walked briskly toward the exit at the back of the cafeteria and bolted out the doors. He took off for the back fence at a run and vaulted over it. He was free. For the first time in a month, he was free and he wanted nothing more than to use his freedom to give Howard a piece of his mind. So he made his way to the nearest subway station, hood pulled low to cover his face. He couldn’t have someone snapping photos of him when he was supposed to be at school. Not that he wanted people taking pictures of him when he was outside of school, either. 

His leg jiggled in anticipation and he kept clenching and unclenching his left fist, a nervous habit he’d unconsciously picked up from Tony recently. His blood boiled in his ears and his heart pounded in his temples. 

_Howard’s fault. All Howard’s fault! Why couldn’t he just leave us alone? We were doing fine until he stuck his nose into everything._

Peter exited the train car with everyone else and followed the crowd out into the street. By the time he’d made it to Stark Mansion, he was seething. He opened the front door without thinking, just as Tony had a month earlier. Unlike Tony, though, Peter didn’t shout his rage. He knew where Howard was, could hear his voice and several others in a meeting in the older man’s study. He took the stairs two at a time, and barged into the study unannounced. 

“-here you can see-Peter? What are you doing here,” Howard admonished. “Shouldn’t you be at school?” 

Peter didn’t speak. He simply glared at his grandfather. The men in the room followed suit. 

“As you can see, I’m a very busy man. I don’t have all day to wait for you to-“ 

“We need to talk,” Peter interrupted. 

Howard sighed as his brows knit together in frustration. “Fine.” He threw down his papers and rounded on Peter. “Gentlemen, if you will excuse me. I’ll only be a moment.” 

He grabbed Peter’s arm and led him into the room next door, which seemed like an extension of the study but with more books. Howard shoved the kid into the room, closed the door behind them, and glared at Peter. 

Peter’s mind suddenly went blank. He didn’t really have a plan, not past getting out of school and into the Mansion. He had no idea of what to say to the imposing figure that towered over him. 

“Just who do you think you are, barging into _my_ house, into _my_ study where I’m holding a _very important meeting_?” 

That spurred Peter to action. He took out his wallet and threw his new license on the table. “I’m Peter _Stark_. But I bet you already knew that.” 

“What’s this nonsense? Speak up, boy! I don’t have all day.” 

“Why’d you do it? We were just fine and then you ruined _everything_!” 

Howard rolled his eyes and scoffed. “So dramatic, just like Tony.” 

“No, I’m nothing like him. But that’s what bothers you, isn’t it? It’s what’s always bothered you! I’m not as _smart_ as Tony or as _strong_ as Tony or _witty_ like Tony or _suave_ like Tony or-“ 

His phone rang, blaring the familiar “I Am Iron Man” ringtone. Peter suddenly paled and Howard’s eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. 

“You better answer it,” the man chuckled. “Tony doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” 

Peter swallowed and answered the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Peter. Alternate titles for this chapter included “Peter and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”


	4. The Stark Gala

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO SORRY it's taken me a month to update this! Life has been INSANE! And this chapter DID NOT WANT TO BE WRITTEN. There are so many versions of this chapter, it's not even funny. 
> 
> A special thanks to those that stuck around to see what happened to Peter, and also to @jolinarjackson for beta reading! Go read their stuff! It's amazing! No really, I'll wait.

Peter wasn’t supposed to be at the Mansion, not since the incident the previous school year when Howard had slapped him and certainly not since they found out Howard had leaked the adoption. ‘Zero contact with Howard Stark’ had been added as one of Tony’s new rules (right under ‘Don’t run off on Happy’). 

Peter put the phone to his ear, eyes closed, and waited, heart in his throat. He swallowed again and tried his best to ignore the gleeful look on Howard’s smug face. 

“Hullo?” 

“Are you ok,” was Tony’s gruff greeting. 

“Yeah, y-yeah. Um, I’m fine.” 

“Are you sure? No broken bones? No bleeding wounds? No head trauma?” 

“Yeah, no. No broken bones. No wounds.” He stared at the floor and shuffled his feet, decidedly ignoring Howard’s deep Tony-like chuckle. 

_ How dare this man have a laugh that sounds like Tony’s?  _

The mere notion was enough to add fuel to Peter’s dwindling rage. 

“Huh,” he heard Tony respond quietly. “Mind telling me why I got a call from Happy telling me you ditched him and left school? Why the StarkWatch says you’re at the Mansion, of all places?” 

Peter didn’t answer. Instead, he glared up at Howard as the man threw him a smirk. 

“Good luck with that, kid.” He went back to his study, to his  _ important meeting _ , and slammed the door on Peter. 

“Peter? Peter! Peter, answer me,” Tony shouted through the phone.

“Howard’s an ass,” Peter said flatly. He heard a metallic thud on Tony’s end of the line and could only assume he’d just landed the suit. 

“Where are you?” 

“Library, but I’m fine. I can get home by myself.” 

“You sure you didn’t hit your head? You just said a bad language word.” 

Peter scoffed, rolled his eyes, and ended the call. A few minutes later, Tony walked in. Peter refused to look the man in the eyes, but Tony was too preoccupied with checking Peter for injuries to notice. 

“See? I’m fine. No injuries.” 

“He didn’t pick you up from school?” 

“No.” 

“And he didn’t lay a hand on you?” 

“I said no,” Peter huffed. 

“Talk to me, Pete. This isn’t like you. You left school in the middle of the day to come  _ here _ of all places? I don’t get it.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Peter mumbled. “Can we just go?” 

“On the contrary, young man. It matters greatly,” Howard said from the door to his study. Peter and Tony turned to face him. “You interrupted an important meeting to shout nonsense at me. Your flair for the dramatics has rubbed off on him, Tony. Let’s just hope the press hasn’t picked up on his little outing today or we could all have hell to pay in the morning.” 

Peter stared at his shoes, eyes red-rimmed and a lump in his throat. He quickly exited the library to hide the heat crawling up the back of his neck and ignored Tony’s calls for him to wait. 

_ Howard’s right; Howard’s always been right. I’m not fit to be a Stark. I never will be. I can’t...I can’t fill Dad’s shoes.  _

He jogged down the stairs and through the parlor. He came to a sudden stop in front of the door. Tony must’ve left it open in his mad dash to see Peter. Thoughts of  _ Not enough _ swam around in Peter’s brain, always said in Howard’s voice, as he continued to stare out the doorway. 

_ I could do it. I could leave. It’d be so easy. I know my way around the city. Nobody would find me. And then Tony could go back to his normal life and not have to worry about me. Nobody would have to worry about me. I could... _

He took a tentative step forward...as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. 

“Hey,” Tony’s voice jolted through him like lightning. Peter tore his gaze away from the open door to finally look up at Tony. He immediately wished he hadn't because Tony's gaze softened, little worry lines creased across his forehead. 

Peter turned away, an innate need to hide burned deep in his stomach. He couldn't handle Tony's gentleness, his  _ pity.  _ The man was too good to him. Taking him in after May's accident, giving him a suit and helping him train, giving him an inheritance and a last name that meant something. Giving Peter a family, a place to call home. 

_ And all I do in return is make him worry _ , Peter thought as he followed Tony out to Happy's car.  _ Not anymore _ , he resolved.  _ Not again. He's better off without me around.  _

It was a quiet ride back to Avengers Tower. 

When they arrived, Peter tried to sneak off to his room, but Tony grabbed the strap on his backpack and held him in place. 

“Come on, kiddo. Talk to me. What happened today?” 

“Nothing,” Peter mumbled without turning around. 

“Nope, try again,” Tony said as he turned Peter to face him.

But Peter refused to speak, refused to look Tony in the eye. Tony sighed.

“Peter-“

“No,” Peter said sharply. “Don’t do that.” 

“Do what,” Tony asked, taken aback. 

“That thing you do where you finally use my real name because you’re trying to be serious! It won’t work this time!” 

Tony raised an eyebrow at the outburst. Peter was yelling? Peter never yelled and especially not at Tony. 

“Never mind. I’m done,” Peter mumbled as he turned to head toward his room again. 

“Now hold on a minute,” Tony said firmly. “You aren’t going anywhere until you talk to me. Tell me what’s really going on here. This isn’t like you, Pete. First, you ditch school to go yell at Howard and now you’re yelling at  _ me _ ? I don’t think so.” 

“Then stop thinking and know because there’s nothing to talk about.” 

“There’s plenty to talk about, kiddo, starting with this sudden attitude you’ve got.” Tony clenched his left fist several times as he stared down his kid. “Listen. I know you aren’t happy about the name change. I get it-“ 

“Do you, though? Do you know what it’s like to have to give up your  _ name _ ? You’re  _ Tony Stark _ ; people trip over themselves to give you what you want because of  _ your  _ name!” Peter watched as Tony flinched and took a slight step backward. 

_ Good _ , Peter thought.  _ Drive him away. It’ll be easier that way. He won’t come looking if, no  _ ** _when_ ** _ , I leave.  _ He took a deep breath, thought of all the ways Howard had ruined this one good thing, and dove headfirst into the argument. 

“Pete, calm down-“ 

“No! I’m tired of you trying to protect me all the time! I...I don’t need it!” He ripped the StarkWatch off and threw it on the floor at Tony’s feet. 

“I never said you did,” Tony tried to backpedal. 

“Never said…? That was the whole point of the name change in the first place!  _ Poor little Peter can’t take care of himself, always needs looking after, better take his name away from him so he doesn’t hurt himself with it! _ ” 

Real tears streamed down Peter’s face now. They weren’t an act, weren’t part of him purposefully trying to drive a wedge between himself and Tony. And the worst part was that Peter knew that Tony knew the argument wasn’t real. 

“Kiddo,” Tony said quietly and placed a gentle hand on Peter’s shoulder. 

“No,” Peter sobbed. “Get away!” Peter shoved Tony’s hands off of him, startling the man. “Parker luck doesn’t change just because you take away the name. You can’t change that, not even with a name like Stark,” he said miserably. 

Tony reached out a tentative hand, but Peter dodged it and finally took off for his room. “I’m not your prince of New York,” he thought he heard Peter mumble as the kid disappeared around the corner. 

Tony stared after him for a long moment, still clenching and unclenching his left fist. Then he did what he always does when he doesn’t know what else to do: he called Pepper. 

“Tony?”

“Hey, Pep.” 

“Are you and Peter getting ready for the benefit gala? I had Peter’s suit pressed and sent up.” 

“Yeah, about that. Tonight’s not the best night.” 

“Tony! It’s the  _ Stark _ Benefit! You can’t  _ not _ go, even if it’s for an hour!”

“I know, but Peter, he’s...something happened and he’s had a bad day.” 

“Well, go be his dad and fix it! I need  _ both _ of you there tonight.” 

_ Fix it. Right. A screaming Peter is new territory. How in the world am I supposed to fix  _ ** _that_ ** _ ? The kid clearly doesn’t even want to be on the same continent as me right now.  _

Tony sighed into the phone. “Pep…” 

“Tony, do whatever you have to do to be there. You can make your speech and leave. I don’t care. But this is  _ your _ benefit. You have to show up. Remember, we’re trying to give Peter some positive press interaction.” 

“Yeah. Alright. I’ll do what I can.” 

“I’ll be there by 7:00 sharp, so be ready.” 

Tony’s mind raced through several different scenarios in which Peter at least cooperated in attending the benefit gala that evening. Each one kept coming back to one thing. 

“Actually, can you do me a favor before you come?” 

~~~~~

Mandarin smiled at himself in the mirror as he straightened his tie. He had to look his best for the Stark Benefit that evening. He had... _ persuaded _ ...his way onto the guest list easily enough with the assistance of his ten rings. Now the real fun began. He grabbed his invitation off the table and headed out into the cool night air. 

~~~~~

The elevator dinged at precisely 7:00 because Pepper was never late. Peter begrudgingly picked at his cufflinks. Tony had threatened to kick him out of the lab if he didn’t at least attend the benefit long enough to hear the speech. Peter had acquiesced but only because he would need access to his suit and webshooters when he decided to make a run for it. Being kicked out of the lab definitely wouldn’t help his cause in the long run. 

The elevator doors opened and Peter looked up. Out stepped Pepper in a beautiful floor-length gown, but that wasn’t what rendered Peter speechless. Behind Pepper came MJ, in a backless dark blue gown. The same color blue as the pocket square Tony had insisted he wear. She wobbled a bit in her heels as she stepped out of the elevator and twisted her sweater in her hands nervously. 

Tony leaned over and whispered in his ear, “A peace offering. I hope you don’t mind, but I had Pepper pick her up. Hopefully, with her around, tonight won’t be so bad.” 

Peter never took his eyes off MJ as he responded, “Y-yeah. Thanks.” 

Tony smiled and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Well? What are you waiting for? You can’t leave a lady waiting for too long.” 

“Why? Will she turn into a pumpkin,” Peter joked with a small smile. 

_ Yeah _ , Tony thought.  _ Inviting the scary girlfriend was a good choice. _

The Stark men greeted their respective ladies and all were ushered down to the garage where Happy waited with the car. 

“You, um. You look...I mean, not that you aren’t...uh, normally. I mean…” Peter blushed as MJ smiled. 

“It’s ok. I think you’re pretty, too,” she told him quietly. “The dress is Pepper’s; she let me borrow it.” 

“I like it,” Peter mumbled, and she gave him a small smile. 

“So a double date with Tony Stark,” MJ stated. 

“Yeah. Is that weird? That’s definitely weird. I’m sorry. I didn’t know he-“ 

“It’s cool. I like parties. Galas. Whatever. I can use it as an excuse to write a column about society’s elite and how their galas make them feel good despite how little they actually do.” 

“Hey, scary girl,” Tony called across the limo. “No name dropping, alright?” 

MJ rolled her eyes as Peter looked absolutely mortified. 

“Says the most elite,” MJ whispered to Peter. 

“You realize he adopted me, right?” 

“Yeah, but you’re still Peter. You’ll always be Peter. Nothing could ever corrupt you, not even Tony Stark.” 

Peter looked down at their entwined hands to hide the heat that crept across his face. He wasn’t so sure, but he thanked her anyway. He smiled at her but tensed slightly as he registered that the car had slowed down. They were stopping, which meant they had arrived, which meant reporters and their cameras were right outside. 

Happy put the car in park and Peter winced. 

“MJ, I…”

“What? You’re sorry?”

She followed his gaze out of the window and realized what he was looking at. 

“Yeah. They won’t give you any privacy, not anymore.” 

“You forget,” she whispered as she straightened his tie. “I’m with Spider-Man.” 

He leaned in and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face. 

“Hey! I’m the only one allowed to make out in the backseat of my cars,” Tony shouted. 

Peter nearly choked on his own tongue. “Wh-ugh!  _ Dad _ !” 

Pepper shot Tony a  _ Look _ and mumbled for him to behave. 

“What? I’m behaving...for now.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Tony, tonight isn’t about you, for once. It’s about giving Peter some positive press time. So behave.” 

“She’s right. Why is she always right? Ok, Bambi, remember what I told you?” 

Peter nodded but looked more nauseated than confident. 

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll be here the whole time. And if you wanna duck out early, just say the word. Ok?”

He nodded again and wrapped his fingers tightly around MJ’s. 

“Ladies first,” said Tony and opened the door for Pepper. Peter and MJ followed suit and the four stood outside the limo for a moment as photos were taken. Tony threw his arm around Peter’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Smile, and remember to have a little fun.” 

“You call this  _ fun _ ,” Peter asked quietly as they were lead into the ballroom. “I’m beginning to think this is some backhanded punishment for ditching school today.” 

“In my defense, this was planned before you went AWOL. Besides, it’s only for an hour or so. Shmooze a few business people, give a nice speech, shake a few hands. Kiss a few babies. Then we can leave.” 

Peter gave a noncommittal grunt. 

“Hey, I’m serious. Movie night tonight. Pjs, popcorn, the whole shebang. Scary girl can join us if you want. I’ll even let you pick the movie.” 

Peter finally cracked a small smile. “Yeah, ok. Sounds nice.” He continued into the ballroom behind Tony, MJ at his arm. 

They had been there half an hour when Peter decided he’d had enough. Tony and Pepper were backstage getting ready for Tony’s speech, which left Peter and MJ out in the crowd. Peter tapped his fingers on the tabletop absentmindedly. MJ placed her hand on top of his and he jerked his head to the side to look at her. 

“Hey, loser,” she deadpanned. He smiled a little. “You’re getting twitchy.” 

“Yeah, sorry. It’s just…” He scanned the room, his spidey sense wriggling at the back of his brain. Something was... _ almost _ wrong? Did that even make sense? 

“Drink,” she asked him. 

“Wh-what?” 

“Do you want a drink? I want a drink. I’m gonna go get one.” And with that, she left for the bar. 

Peter followed her with his eyes as far as could, but the room was dark and there were too many people. His spidey sense wriggled a little bit harder, taking it out of the ‘something is  _ almost _ wrong’ category and into the ‘something is  _ probably _ wrong’ category. He scanned the crowd again, looking for anyone familiar now. MJ was nowhere to be seen. 

“Ah, Mr. Stark,” came a voice from Peter’s left. Peter nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound. 

“Uh…,” he swallowed. “Peter’s fine.” 

The man smiled over at him. Peter glanced at the stranger and paused. This wasn’t someone he recognized from one of Tony’s parties, nor was he someone Tony had introduced before. But that didn’t mean anything. It was a big ballroom and there were plenty of people there that Peter didn’t know. Peter scanned the crowd again and wondered what was taking MJ so long. 

“Looking for someone,” the stranger asked. 

“Oh, uh...just my-“ 

“Your young lady friend, perhaps,” the gentleman said with a knowing smile. “Ah, to be young and in love. Yes, Miss Jones is quite lovely. You’re lucky.” 

Peter paused and re-examined his unwanted guest.  _ How does he know her name? _

The man clamped his hand down on Peter’s shoulder and Peter noticed that it glittered with too many rings. His spidey sense flared to life again and Peter averted his gaze to hide his wince. 

“Listen, Peter, and listen very closely.” The hairs on the back of Peter’s neck stood up. “An acquaintance of mine has escorted your lovely Miss Jones off the premises.”

Peter’s head shot up at that, his brows furrowed. “Wha-“

“She was unharmed in the process. If you wish for her to remain that way, you’ll come with me and do as I say. Do you understand?” 

Peter clenched his jaw and surveyed the room again. He finally noticed the men in suits standing in front of each exit. They hadn’t been standing there a moment ago and they weren’t part of Happy’s security for the evening. He could fight his way out, but then everyone would learn his secret. Innocent people might get hurt in the process. He glanced back at the stage and quickly wondered if Tony and Pepper were safe, and if they were, how long would they be safe? Peter looked back up at the stranger who still had his arm thrown over Peter’s shoulders. The man smiled and Peter’s palms itched with sweat. 

He was trapped. 

“Peter,” the man asked nicely as if he were asking what Peter wanted to drink. 

Peter’s heartbeat in his throat and his spidey sense was going haywire now. He bit down on his tongue to keep the sudden wave of nausea at bay and nodded. The man lead him outside. 

_ Whoever has MJ is gonna pay _ , he thought as he reached down to tap the silent panic button on his StarkWatch. His heart skipped a beat when his fingers brushed against his own skin. 

_ No! The watch! Dad! _

_ “I’m tired of you trying to protect me all the time _ ,” he’d said right as he threw the StarkWatch at Tony’s feet. 

Something hard collided with the back of his skull and his vision blurred. As the darkness crept in, the only thing he remembered was how beautiful MJ looked in blue. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come visit me on tumblr @melodicrunes


	5. Champagne, headaches, and panic attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony realizes Peter has been kidnapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers, 
> 
> First off, I want to thank you SO MUCH for sticking with this story. I was very excited when I first sat down to write it. But then I became more concerned with the story's stats and numbers, and began to think that perhaps people didn't like my idea. I'm still fairly new to ao3 and sharing my works with others is still terrifying each time I post something. The idea that I'd let people down by posting a story readers might not like really got to me. I've also been swamped with my job and real-life and have only now had the time (or brain cells) to write again. But this time, I'm writing for fun, to finish the story to say that I've finished a multichapter fic for the first time ever. And hopefully, I'm less concered with the stats. Although your continued support BLOWS ME AWAY! 
> 
> Please know that I WILL finish this fic. If not right away, as soon as I can. I've majorly overhauled the outline I had from earlier and like this new idea much better. With that, I hope you enjoy and thank you from the bottom of my heart for bothering to read my stories in the first place.

MJ gathered her (Pepper’s) blue dress in one hand and balanced two glasses of champagne in the other. She had to walk slowly in order to 1. Not trip and embarrass herself in front of all of these rich people and 2. Not spill drinks on a dress worth more than her yearly tuition at Midtown and embarrass herself in front of all these rich people. She rolled her eyes, and probably her ankle, as she finally made it to their table. She carefully slid the drinks on the table just in time to listen to Stark’s terrible speech. MJ surreptitiously scanned the room for Peter.

_ I bet that loser went off to the bathroom _ , she thought as she squinted at the far side of the room. She took a sip of champagne and coughed a little.  _ Ugh!  _ ** _This_ ** _ is what people waste their money on at these parties?  _ She gave a little shrug and downed the rest of the glass in one gulp. It burned her throat and she coughed again. The old hag in pearls at the table next to her glanced over in disapproval. MJ gave a half-smile as she raised her middle finger. The woman turned away in horror and MJ chuckled to herself. 

_ Seriously. Where is Peter? He can’t be doing anything Spiderman related, can he?  _ She didn’t remember him bringing his suit or having webshooters on him. She distinctly remembered not seeing that bulky StarkWatch he normally wore. She waited until the speech ended, grabbed Peter’s glass of champagne, and headed for the stage.  _ Maybe Peter’s backstage with Pepper. _

“Excuse me, miss, but you’re not allowed back here,” a security guard said as he tried to stiff-arm her. 

She glared up at him and deeply regretted the next words to come out of her mouth. “I’m a guest of Tony Stark.” 

The guard sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you and every other woman here. Nice try, but I can’t let-” 

“Are you harassing my guest? This young lady is here with us, as a personal guest of Peter Stark _ . _ Now step aside, and let her through,” Pepper’s voice rang out authoritatively and the guard immediately stepped to the side. 

“My apologies, miss,” he mumbled as MJ walked past him. 

“I’m so sorry about that,” Pepper gushed and MJ thought she seemed genuine. 

“It’s whatever. I get thrown out of protests all the time; I’m used to it by now.” 

Pepper motioned her forward to walk and talk. “Well, you shouldn’t be thrown out of a gala when your name is on the guest list. Unless you’re Tony, in which case-” She rolled her eyes and MJ smirked. “Anyway. We’ll just find Peter and then we can go.” 

“Wait. He’s not with you,” MJ asked, eyes widening for the first time all evening. 

“No. We haven’t seen him since we left you to come backstage. Never mind. I’ll tell Happy to find him and meet us in the car.” 

“Who is Happy finding,” Tony asked as he joined them. “What’d you think? Did I nail it or what?” He turned to MJ and waited. 

“World peace? Really? That’s all you had to talk about? You should fire your scriptwriter.” 

Tony rolled his eyes and mumbled something about ‘kids these days’. “Speaking of kids, where’s mine?” 

“Probably in the bathroom or something. I just texted Happy to get him and meet us in the car,” Pepper replied. 

“I don’t think he’s in the bathroom,” MJ said. Tony and Pepper stopped and stared at her. “He hangs on your every word. He wouldn’t go to the bathroom in the middle of one of your speeches, even if it sounded like a short answer at the Miss America pageant. And he hadn’t had anything to drink so there wasn’t a need for him to go to the bathroom.” 

That gave Tony pause. “Alright. So where is he?” 

“I don’t know. I left to get drinks and when I got back, he was gone. I thought he might’ve come to meet you here, but.” She waved her arms around at the empty space. 

She noticed just how quickly Tony’s pupils dilated. Then he whipped out a pair of ostentatious sunglasses and put them on. “Friday, be a dear and scan facial recognition for Peter.” 

“On it, Boss,” she answered quietly. “Peter left the building approximately fifteen minutes ago.” 

“He  _ what? _ ”

“With this man.” Grainy footage of a man with his hand wrapped around Peter’s shoulders appeared on one of the lenses. 

“Lock down the building and alert Happy.” 

“What? Why,” Pepper asked, her voice higher than it was a few minutes ago. 

“Peter’s gone,” Tony ground out. He grabbed his left wrist instinctively, and he felt a migraine growing behind his eyes. 

MJ stood frozen as people scurried around them. Security teams, Happy, Pepper, men in black suits with earpieces. An announcement was made, but she didn’t hear it. People shouted, but she didn’t care. What kept her grounded was the way Tony’s hand trembled slightly as he tapped the side of his glasses, and the slight quiver in his voice as he called for someone named Honeybear. MJ zeroed in on Tony as he clutched his chest where the arc reactor used to be and realized he, too, was having a panic attack. But he panicked on the outside while she panicked on the inside. In all the shouting and movement and panic attacks, one thought came to her mind:  _ Kidnapped. Peter was kidnapped. _

~~~~~

Peter awoke to a pounding headache. His neck and shoulders were tense and he couldn’t figure out why. Had he slept wrong? But he didn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was the gala. Maybe he fell asleep in the backseat of the car? 

_ And I’m drooling. Great! MJ probably thinks I’m a mess now. _ .. _ Wait, MJ… _

Something about MJ stuck out. Something important happened. Where was she? Peter tried to rub his eyes open, but he couldn’t move his hands. They were…

_ Tied? Why am I...tied to a chair...oh no.  _ ** _MJ!_ ** _ _

He remembered everything: the gala, MJ left to get drinks, the weird man who made his Spidey sense scream at him. He said MJ was taken! But where? 

_ Come on, Spiderman! Wake up! Come on! Gotta find MJ! _

He blinked his eyes open and realized that he was, in fact, tied to a chair in the middle of a room. He couldn’t see any windows in front of him, just a solid metal door that matched the solid walls around it. He strained his neck to see behind him, but a blinding pain shot through his skull. He bit down on his bottom lip to keep from crying out. It took a few slow deep breaths before he could open his eyes again. 

_ Ok, not gonna try that again. _

His hands were tied behind his back and he wiggled them to see how tight the binding was. Maybe he could use his strength to…

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Mr. Stark.” 

Peter’s head snapped to the right. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, he realized that a man stood in the corner, arms crossed over his chest, a smirk on his face. It wasn’t the same man from the gala, the creep with too much jewelry. This was someone new. 

“Oh yeah? Why’s that,” Peter asked. 

“Because if you try to escape, I’ll have to hurt you. And the boss doesn’t want you hurt yet. Or I could always hurt that pretty little lady of yours.” 

Peter’s blood ran cold at the mention of MJ. “Where is she,” he demanded. 

“Oh, getting a little feisty, are we?” The newcomer chuckled. “Boss said not yet.” 

The man stepped closer to Peter and patted him on the cheek. Peter’s stomach rolled at the touch. “Just behave yourself, little Stark. Or don’t. Either way, I’m sure you’ll put on a good show for that new Daddy of yours.” 

The door clanged shut behind him and Peter was left alone, truly alone this time. 

Peter’s mind raced. MJ had been kidnapped and it was all his fault. He’d fought with his Dad earlier and that was all his fault, too. And it was his fault that they couldn’t be traced because he’d been a complete  _ asshole _ and thrown the StarkWatch back in his Dad’s face. And he’d run off on Happy and never got to apologize. And he’d shouted at Howard, although Peter still thought he deserved to be shouted at. Peter hung his head and let his eyes fall shut. 

_ But Howard was right; I’m not cut out to be a Stark. I’m the idiot that gets myself and my girlfriend kidnapped on my first official outing as a Stark. And if I try to use my powers to escape, MJ could get hurt! _

“Come on, Parker. Get it together,” he mumbled to himself through gritted teeth. He paused. He wasn’t a Parker anymore and he wouldn’t be ever again. He shook his head to clear it, but that made the searing pain even worse. What kind of mess had he gotten himself, and MJ by association, into this time? He found himself wanting the one person who couldn’t help him, who he’d pushed away and seriously considered running away from a mere two hours ago. 

“Dad,” he whispered to the darkness. As he expected, nobody replied. 

~~~~~

“What do you mean  _ you’ve lost him _ ,” Tony bellowed. 

When they’d realized Peter had been kidnapped, Happy whisked everyone to the safety of the Tower. Even MJ hadn’t been allowed to go home, although someone had gotten her a change of clothes and set her up in a guest room for the night.

“Tony, I…,” Happy backpedaled. “The footage wasn’t the best. You said yourself it was grainy. And I traced the plates on the van as far as I could.” 

Tony gritted his teeth and closed his eyes against the pounding in his head. It had been growing steadily for the past few hours. A gentle hand was laid on his forearm. 

“Thank you, Happy. Tony knows you’ve done everything you can,” Pepper replied softly. 

“Boss, the Avengers have arrived,” Friday announced. 

“Wait, what? Who called them? I didn’t call them,” Tony asked in annoyance as Captain Perfect Hair waltzed into his living room, the rest not far behind. 

“Tony, we’re so sorry. Friday filled us in on the ride over from the compound,” Steve said, the concern evident in his eyes. 

Tony gave him a stony glare in response. While Peter had met everyone on the team, he wasn’t sure he was ready to trust the Rogues with his son just yet. 

“We’re here to help, Tony. What do you need us to do,” Steve asked. 

Tony sighed again, hand covering his eyes as his head throbbed. “We lost track of the van,” he mumbled. “Footage is too grainy and the cameras lose him in the crowd. Not even Friday could track him after that.” 

“Alright. Tracking we can worth with.” Steve turned to the rest of the team but was cut off by Friday. 

“Boss, incoming video call. It’s coming from an unregistered number.” 

“Track it Fri,” Tony commanded. “And put it on the main screen.” 

The large-screened tv in the living room blinked to life and an image of Peter popped up on the screen. 

“Peter! Fri, is this live?” 

“It’s live, Mr. Stark,” came a voice from offscreen, a voice Tony didn’t recognize. The voice continued as a burly man walked up to Peter. “This is a proof of life video, Mr. Stark.” 

The man yanked Peter’s head back by his curly brown hair. Peter winced from the pain but Tony could tell he wasn’t going to give his captors the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. Tony waited with bated breath as Peter was jerked around by his hair. 

“Let him go! What do you want,” Tony shouted at the tv. 

“Ah, all in due time, Mr. Stark. For now, this is enough, I think,” replied the man offscreen. 

“Is there anything you’d like to say to dear old Dad,” asked the guy holding Peter by his hair. His grip tightened as Peter tried to yank himself free. 

“Peter,” Tony’s voice croaked. “Pete, kiddo, I’m coming for you. Just hang in there.” 

The muscle man-handling Peter pulled a knife out of his pocket and flicked it open. “Sure you don’t have anything to say? Daddy’s waiting.” He gently carded the naked blade across Peter’s cheek; Peter whimpered, eyes closed against the frigid blade. The man barked out a laugh. Then he snapped the blade shut and slammed his fist into Peter’s stomach. 

Peter couldn’t help it the cry that escaped his lips, or the trembled word that came with it. “Da-ad!” 

“Alright, now. That’s enough for one call,” the offscreen voice said cheerfully. “I’ll call again in a few hours with my demands, Mr. Stark. I expect them to be fulfilled.” 

The tv went blank. 

Tony sank to his knees, hand clutching his chest. “Peter,” he whispered over and over again. “Peter.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and constructive criticism is welcome. Come find me on tumblr: @melodicrunes.


	6. Hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick author's note.

Hello all! 

I have yet to figure out how to mark a work as "on hiatus" but this one officially is. I'm very thankful and overwhelmed by the comments I still see (and I read every single one! Even if I haven't responded!) despite the fact that I haven't posted in so long. 

The thing is, real life is too, too much right now. I'm an educator in a country that's being obliterated by COVID-19, and we're being told to go back to school in the fall as if people aren't still sick and dying. We're being treated like our own lives & the lives of our loved ones don't matter. Some have even called the possible & inevitable death of educators an "acceptable sacrifice". To compound the situation, I'm going to have a baby. In the middle of a global pandemic. 

So I need a break. But I do hope that I can finish this story one day because I, too, would love to know how Peter gets out of this one! I know ao3 has been a refuge for many of you, myself included, and I didn't want you all to keep returning here in hopes of an update when I just can't give that to you right now. It felt wrong to leave you all hanging without an explanation. 

I hope I haven't upset anyone by posting this author's note instead of a chapter. I wish you all the best, and pray you and your loved ones are staying safe. 

~MelodicRunes 


End file.
